California Air Resources Board

Would have amended the California Constitution to declare that the people have a right to clean air and water and a healthy environment. Missed deadline for bill passage in the Assembly.

Amends the timeline for local governments to appeal proposed regional housing needs allocation (RHNA) plans and revises the statutory housing element adoption deadline for jurisdictions within the Southern California Association of Governments by providing an additional six months to Los Angeles and Imperial Counties and jurisdictions within those counties.

Requires cities and counties to set lower traffic impact mitigation fees for transit-oriented housing developments near major transit stops, instead of just at transit stations, and changes the definition of a major transit stop.

Would have defined pyrolysis the thermal decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence or near absence of oxygen and required California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, no later than January 1, 2026, to amend the Short-lived Climate Pollutants Strategy regulations to include, as a recovered organic waste product attributable to a local jurisdiction’s procurement target, pipeline biomethane converted exclusively from organic waste. Ordered to the inactive file on the Senate floor.

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Authorizes local jurisdictions to count additional organic waste products, activities, and investments towards their organic waste procurement targets, including determining a local per capita procurement target using information from a local jurisdiction waste characterization study, as specified. The bill also authorizes a local jurisdiction to satisfy its annual procurement obligations by procuring a quantity of recovered organic waste products that meets or exceeds a 5-year procurement target, as specified.

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Would have formally expanded California’s Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery's California Climate Investments program for food waste prevention to include recovery of edible food, including, but not limited to, the transportation of recovered edible food, and the purchase or subscription to technology or software that improves the efficiency and tracking of edible food recovery. Held on suspense in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

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Requires the California Transportation Plan (CTP) to include a financial element that summarizes the full cost of implementing the CTP, a summary of available revenues, an analysis of what is feasible within the plan, considering constrained revenues, and requires the Department of Transportation to enhance an existing public online dashboard to display how annual project investments are advancing the vision and goals of the CTP.

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Summary 

Would have required the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to include drones as an eligible agricultural equipment under the Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) as part of the Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP). Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

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Summary 

Provides specified direction for procedures that pertain to restitution or vehicle replacement pursuant to the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and the Tanner Consumer Protection Act, commonly known as the “Lemon Laws.” Specifically, this bill would specify that a consumer seeking restitution for a vehicle repair or replacement must file their case within one year of the expiration of an applicable express warranty and in all cases must file their case within six years of the date of original delivery of the motor vehicle. Additionally, this bill, among other things, requires a consumer, at least 30 days prior to the commencement of a civil action seeking civil penalties related to the Lemon Laws, to notify the manufacturer of specified vehicle information and demand that the manufacturer repurchase or replace the motor vehicle. 

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Governor’s Signing Message 

To the Members of the California State Assembly:  

I am signing Assembly Bill 1755, which would significantly alter the procedures for handling vehicle defect claims under California's "Lemon Law." I commend the authors for their efforts to expedite resolution of Lemon Law claims and reduce litigation that is placing increasing pressure on court dockets.

Earlier this year, I was pleased to sign AB 2288 (Kalra) and SB 92 (Umberg), consensus measures that were the product of months of negotiation to address deficiencies in Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) litigation. In contrast to that consensus, this bill has drawn substantive opposition from several consumer groups and the majority of automakers, who were not party to the negotiations. While AB 1755 aims to speed resolution of Lemon Law claims and reduce litigation, many automakers, including smaller electric-vehicle automakers, have expressed serious concerns that some of the specific procedures prescribed in AB 1755 are unworkable for them. In light of those concerns, the authors have agreed to introduce a bill early in the 2025-2026 legislative session that would amend the statute enacted by this bill to make its new procedures subject to election by a given automaker. Automakers that do not elect to utilize the new procedures to resolve Lemon Law claims on their vehicles would be subject to existing Lemon Law rules. I urge the Legislature to adopt that compromise proposal swiftly.

The agreed-upon amendments would also require consumers who have made Lemon Law claims under this bill to give notice to prospective buyers if they sell their vehicles prior to resolution of their Lemon Law lawsuit, in order to ensure that buyers are aware of potential defects. The sale of vehicles to buyers unaware of pending Lemon Law claims on the vehicle is a broader problem under current law that puts buyers and the general public at risk from unsafe vehicles on the road, and I encourage the Legislature to consider additional solutions to that issue.

I also encourage the Legislature to consider whether additional changes to the Lemon Law are needed in light of the transition to electric vehicles and significant advancements in automotive technology. The Lemon Law was enacted in 1970, before cars were equipped with a single computer (today they have as many as 100 separate computers and related electronic sensors) and decades before the first mass-produced electric vehicle. While this issue was not the focus of AB 1755, I encourage the Legislature to consider whether additional updates to the Lemon Law are warranted.  

Sincerely,  

Gavin Newsom 

View Governor’s sign message here 

Summary 

Would have imposed an additional annual $4 charge on each motor vehicle registered in the state to be collected by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with the revenues deposited into the Air Quality Improvement Fee Fund, which the bill would have created. The bill would have continuously appropriated the revenues in the fund to the DMV for distribution upon request to air districts based upon the amount of the charges collected from motor vehicles registered within each air district. This bill would have required these revenues to be used for the reduction of air pollution from motor vehicles and for related planning, monitoring, enforcement, and technical studies, as specified, or for the attainment or maintenance of State or federal ambient air quality standards or the reduction of toxic air contaminant emissions from motor vehicles. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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